"Ideally, parents will unostentatiously allow their children to
become acquainted, from infancy on, with the nude appearance of family
members, juvenile and adult, in the normal course of dressing,
undressing, and bathing."-- Margaret Mead
So What is Nudism You Ask?
Nudism and Nudist believes are about
being the way we were born and the way human kind was for most of our
history: nude except when the weather dictated otherwise. It brings
everyone down to the same level. You never know if the person you are
talking to is a janitor, a doctor, or the CEO of a Fortune 100
company. Nudists are extremely accepting of everyone no matter the
gender, race, sex, size, etc. Whether you shop at Wal-Mart or Brooks
Brothers, no one knows and no one cares. It allows us to relax and
just enjoy good company.
From one Naturist Picture to the next, image galleries can provide a
good provide good perspective into a highly popular culture of nudism.
From teen nudist gallery, to adult nudist resorts, you can explore
life without limitations of clothes.
Children's
Perceptions of Nudity
The study of children's sexuality is
similar to a trip through the desert in California: long stretches of
nothing, interrupted by brief flurries of activity and interesting
sights. Alayne Yates (1979) cites the sparse and confusing history of
scholarly study of the general subject of children's sexuality, and
specifically the lack of any concise reference materials for parents
and educators. In the United States, as well as most other
English-speaking countries, research of this nature has historically
been seen as unnecessary (the mildest reaction), intrusive (a common
belief among educators: children's sexuality is seen as the purview of
the parents alone), or evil (especially among individuals and groups
subscribing to certain religious codes and dogma). The impediments to
research present a special problem for families and groups that do not
share the prevalent views regarding sexuality in general, and
nudity/modesty in particular. Smith and Sparks (1986) give numerous
examples of families who are nudists, either "social" or "at home,"
who routinely hide that aspect of their lives for fear that others
will find out and disapprove. They fear disapproval because they do
not have any well-developed base of scholarly research to support
their beliefs that the body is a normal and healthy entity, and that
non-sexual nudity is not harmful for children (and is actually
beneficial). [Nudists are generally classified as follows: "social
nudists" participate in nude recreation and lifestyles in the company
of others, such as at beaches, clubs, or other gatherings; "at home
nudists" might not participate in group activities, but do not
habitually wear clothes at home when circumstances do not require
them, such as when sleeping, relaxing in the yard, or simply when in
the home alone.]
Goldman and Goldman (1981) chose
children as their subjects, as opposed to the previous two studies.
Research involving children can be problematic, but can also be quite
revealing. The Goldmans interviewed 838 subjects from North America,
England, Australia, and Sweden. Subjects' ages ranged from five to 15
years old. Each child was individually interviewed and asked questions
designed to elicit responses indicating the child's understanding of
wearing clothing, nudity (as viewed by society as a whole), and
modesty. The responses were coded and scored according to the Kohlberg
scale of moral thinking, in order to assess each subject's level of
cognitive reasoning for the answers given. No references were made to
the family nudity status, although this again may have been an
influential factor.
Nudist and
Non-Nudist Perceptions
The last study may be the most useful
resource for nudist families. Story (1979) interviewed 264 three- to
five-year-old children and their parents. These subjects were chosen
and matched based on family nudity status: "social nudist," "at-home-
only nudist," or non-nudist. Subjects were all North Americans, with
approximately equal numbers sampled from all geographic regions in the
United States. The parents were given individually administered
interviews to determine the children's ages, sexes, weights, and birth
order. The children were interviewed separately; they were asked to
tell whether they liked certain body parts, using as references line
drawings of nude children of the same sex and race as the child being
interviewed. The children were also asked to identify the most- and
least-liked body parts, with an explanation for each.
Parental
Attitude About Nudism
Aquilino and Ely (1985) studied the
attitudes of parents toward the normal sexual development of preschool
children. Eighty-one parents with children three to five years old
were surveyed regarding the sexual activity and curiosity of preschool
children. Subjects were parents whose children attended day-care
centers in North Carolina towns. An author-designed questionnaire was
used, containing questions relating to parental knowledge, responses
to children's sexuality, and comfort with children's sexuality.
Subjects also gave information about their age, sex, marital status,
religious affiliation, and education, as these factors were seen as
potential influences on response outcomes. After individually
completing the questionnaires, the subjects were encouraged to
participate in group and/or individual question-and-answer sessions.
The authors did not state whether any of the subjects were nudists,
and it is doubtful that they considered this a potential influence on
responses [as it was not included].
Short Reading About Nudist Culture
By the time of my next nudist experience I was married. We decided to try one of the nudist camp sites in France. After much scouring of the travel pages in H&E and British Naturism, we decided upon Arnaoutchot on the Atlantic coast located between Bordeaux and Birritz. That whole length of coast line is wild beach, sand dunes and pine forest. Arna is carved out of the forest just behind the beach and sand dunes. It has shops, restaurants, swimming pools, all nude. The camping area is large and split into smaller areas with most of the pitches being separated from each other by undergrowth and bushes. There is no shortage of wild life, in particular red squirels, woodpeckers, etc. The site is excellent, and the beach is magnificent. It is just mile after mile of wide wild fairly empty sandy beach together with the impressive Atlantic waves.
The only problem with Arna is that the weather can be adversly influenced by the Atlantic and the nearby Pyrenees, so it gets more than its fair share of cloudy and wet days. I just love being naked, preferably out doors. It does not have to be on a beach. As I mentioned above, one of my other great loves is walking (preferably nude). So when the weather was unsettled at Arna we would head for the deserted footpaths of the Pyrenees which are just over an hours’ drive away.
Having been most impressed with the Pyrenees, the following year we decided to try the eastern end, with the hope of getting even better weather. Again after much leafing through the holiday advertisements in old editions of H&E we headed for La Clapere. It is located in the foothills of the western Pyrenees very close to the Spanish border. It has a charming camp site, with a swimming pool, shop restaurant. It has a mountain stream running through the centre of the site, but the water was far too cold for me.
The nearest largish mountain is the Canigou. We were there in mid June, just after a cold snap. When we arrived, the top third of the Canigou was covered in snow! By the time we had the tent up the sun was shining and it was wall-to-wall sun for the rest of our holiday. The thought of walking nude in the snow was a tantalising prospect, but we never quite made it. Our favourite beach at the mouth of the River Tech was about a 30 min drive away. You can just see the snow on the Canigou if you use your imagination. The walks in the hills around La Clapere are magnificent. Some of the paths follow the French / Spanish border. One day we were engulfed by clouds of migrating butterflies wafting along with the southerly breeze. Can you spot the butterfly?
The restaurant at the camp site was superb. Once a week there was a Paella evening. You can imagine the format, wine, food, more wine, more food, dancing, etc. Not being one to wear clothes at a nudist campsite, I was of course, nude, but as the tempreature was slightly cool, I was the only naked one in the group of 20 or so, most of whom were Dutch. I am not an enthusiastic dancer at the best of times, but my wife dragged me onto the dance floor. Nude dancing, with all your bits bouncing up and down is great fun. I liked it, so did my bouncy bits! One dance led to another, and another. Then came the slow dance. We embarrassed each other, quite respectably, and smooched. The wine had got to my bouncy bits. It had stopped bouncing and was starting to move upwards. It does not take much to get it excited at the best of times, and this was no exception. I just about managed to gain some semblance of control by the end of the dance, and managed to coyly get back to my seat pretending nothing had happened. My re-control of the situation was not total and there were a few knowing smiles from some of the Dutch girls.
A couple of glasses of wine later and things were totally under control again when I got dragged to the dance floor again. I was bouncing well, then came the slow dance. It started to grow again, but what the heck I thought, don’t fight it. The dance had only just started, they always played at least two slow pieces together, so I gave wicked willie his head, and did not worry about it (as if I would). One of the Dutch girls then decided to turn the dance into an ‘excuse me’. My wife was whisked away from me and I was given an unsuspecting girl who had just been broken up in a similar fashion. Protesting was pointless. What can you do or say when there you are dancing naked with a complete stranger with a stiff penis. Well I continued dancing. I smiled, so did she, I apologised, but I don’t think that she understood English. It is surprising just how fast a penis can deflate under such circumstances. The dance soon ended, I smiled again, said thank you, and returned to my seat. I never could work out whether the ‘excuse me’ was just coincidence, or whether I was set up! At the end of the day, it was a good laugh, no harm was done and I suspect that I was the most (although not very) embarrassed person on the dance floor.
Closer to home, my wife and I recently went to one of Eureka's regular Saturday night parties. It was actually to celebrate my 50th birthday. I had though long and hard about what to to on such a occaision. The idea of spending the evening in my birthday suit at a dance rather appealed, so off we went. We had never been to one before and had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be a Valentines Day party, and the place was heaving, absolutely packed. I've never seen so many naked bodies in such a relatively small space.
The music seemed to be 15 mins bop, 15 mins reggay and 15 mins slow dance. It was the 15 mins slow dance that appealed to me most. Although we have been married 12 years and spend lots of time naked together, we have never danced naked before, especially in a smooch.
My wicked willie got carried away, but thats no great surprise, but sandwiched between our naked bodies, I thought that few people would notice. Also, what was no surprise, was that my penis was not the only one enjoying the situation. Without too close an inspection, there were penises in all states of stiffness all over the dance floor. The end of the dance was quite amusing as the owners of these stiff penises had to allow an extra six inches or so in front of them when returning to their seats. But as it was Eureka, everybody just smiled and carried on as before.
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